This is a wonderful 900K home.

Looks like someone had the balls to remove the listing.

Nice ESTATE!  That’ll fool em!  MMhmmm!

I am impressed - a bunch of McMansions stuffed into a sardine can of a neighborhood.

I was afraid she might do that. Did you see how many times she has delisted this thing already?

I’d like to remind everyone to go vote NO on all the propositions today.  If you need a reason why, do it on behalf of the habitual delister mentioned above.

I see that someone decided that having us laugh and point wasn’t worth it…

I’m having trouble seeing the other two car garage.  I see two doors up the driveway….where is the rest of it?

And $2 mill and the neighbors appear to be yards away?

Clearly a case of realtor abusing the seller.  “You can’t offer this house for $900,000; we have three other exclusives all priced around twice that.  You would destroy the comps.”

Didn’t know where else to post this, but I think you’d enjoy the “Kristie Chronicles” over at OCR (ocregister.com) - a woman’s blog about buying a home in OC right now. She lost her job while in escrow, got her parents to co-sign for her, and admits to having only 2 month’s savings to pay the mortgage until she finds a job.  It’s odd to me that many comments support her folly…

She’ll be stuck in this home (underwater) for some time, and I just don’t get the desperation to “buy now!”.

Pfft-it doesn’t take courage to ask this much, all it takes is a maniacal real estate agent and the stroke of a pen.  And who knows? Suckers haven’t stopped being born just because there’s a recession.  Maybe they snag one at 1.2-1.3, who then thinks he got a real steal.

Responsible owner, no HELOC abuse.  Inflated expectations about the selling price are the common colds of home sales; the price will come down when they really need to get out.  Nothing to see here.

Yup - WTF?

Maybe the seller has a multiple personality disorder of some kind.

“I want to sell”
“I don’t want to sell”
“I am selling!”
“I am not selling!”
“I should sell”
“I shouldn’t sell”

I guess it is understandable. 

For crying out loud, we don’t want her to just Give It Away after working so hard to live and relax in it for the last 10 years.

She justifiably deserves a handsome profit.

It appears as though she is having commitment problems.

Understandable; she has worked hard to live and relax in the place for the past 10 years.  She cannot be expected to just Give It Away in a down market.

She deserves a handsome profit and needs to be cautious to make sure she gets every penny.

The parents were dumb enough to co-sign? Wow.

You’d think that they would welcome all the extra publicity with such a fine ESTATE; surely some fence-sitter is out there reading the blog today waiting to hop onto this oversized Sardine of an ESTATE.

Big deal - it has a granite kitchen!

And upgrades to boot!

I am frothing at the mouth!  Where do I sign!?  Must get into ESTATE!

It’s not a house - it’s an ESTATE.  Stop trying to demean it!

I cannot find this article.  Please post link.

“Stunning”

Kirk “set phasers on stun”

So that’s how they plan on selling these homes, they will stun the buyers first so they don’t know what they are signing.  Must be aliens like the people behind HULU.

is there any point to either listing/delisting like that or fiddling with the price? I’ve seen many homes that do both.
The only thing I can think of is a delisting then relisting marks your house as ‘new on market’ and so they’re trying to keep it on that list.
Someone who fiddles with the price (changes it by $100 every few days) is doing the same, but to keep it on the ‘recently adjusted’ list (if that exists)?

I’d love to hear if theres a real reason for either behavior.

“The United States has always been a society of the have and the have nots. That is how capitalism works. The disparity of wealth and income is the incentive society allows the individual to motivate hard work, innovation and contribution to societal goals. Communism was an attempt to create a classless society, but it failed, mostly due to the failure of the society to provide any tangible rewards for individual effort”

After that, do I really need to read anything further about US or world history? There it all is, the inner essence of America and the world laid bare for our delectation. Wow.

What is the problem with Proposition 1F?
“which would deny pay raises to state elected officials when California is running a deficit.”

The lot size on my $150k house in Riverside is larger than this “estate”.  And my house ain’t no estate.

Here’s an actual estate:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Riverside/2825-Floral-Ave-92507/home/5055392
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/home-info/17869650_zpid/

2825 Floral Ave
Riverside, CA 92507

1.7 acres on a private, dead end street in a very good neighborhood.  Nothing but countryside on two sides.
3 houses-main house is 4 beds/2.5 baths, 2,381 square feet, plus there’s a guest house and a pool house-total of 7 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and 3 kitchens.
A pool, obviously.
Parking for 20+ vehicles.
Oh yeah, and a tennis court.

Last sale: Mar 12, 2009 for $306,000

Maybe the address in the listing is wrong - the place in the upper left corner of the overhead street view looks about right: big house, lots of lawn and walkways around it, lots of space for the swimming pool a short distance farther away. That looks like an actual estate.

When you change price or status, sites like Redfin will send out notices to people who have elected to add the property/estate to their favorites list.

It won’t hurt-  -but won’t help much.  Mostly symbolic given the overall problem.  Like Obama shaving the budget.  Not even 1 percent.  It is easier for most people to vote one way or the other on all, rather than have them try to remember to vote “no” on all but “yes” on one of them - lest they forget when they’re voting and vote the wrong one “yes.”  But I agree, I’m voting “no” on all except 1F.

The two things don’t have anything to do with each other.

Here I sit feeling bad about myself for still not having enough money saved for a downpayment; to me that includes 6 months emergency savings and 20% of a home’s purchase price.

The more this plays out, the more I realize that most people who bought homes didn’t put anything down and don’t have anything saved up.

The good news is that it looks like prices will keep dropping for a while, and at the same time my savings account will grow to put me in a better position to buy something.

That’s hot!

I love it.

That is amazing. Prices like that on properties 30 minutes away is going to put continued pressure on OC prices. That is about 2/3 off its 2005 purchase price.

Wow! That’s a nice place; it’s certainly more than what I need, but to think that I could live in something that luxurious for $300K is exciting.

That seems awfully low for a place that big, I wonder what condition it was in, and I wonder what the tax burden would be on something that size?

WTF prices indeed!  Speaking of, Hawaii top end sellers suffer a lot of unreality too.  On a remote beach street a good half hour to 45 minutes from the nearest “town” on the Big Island, I looked at a 1 bedroom, 1 bath 40+ year old shack, er, house admittedly on a 14,000 square foot lot on the water.  Asking price $3,375,000.  WTF?

They’re mixing up a fresh batch of kool aid here in San Diego!

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/19/1n19housing002351-sign-optimism-home-prices-rise/?business&zIndex=101712

A number of people in the forums have commented on how annoying this practice is. The fifth or sixth time you see the same listing you already ignored because it was overpriced, people start to be bothered by it. Buyers know whether or not they want something for the available price the first time they see it. Showing them over and over again does nothing to change their minds. It is really a dumb practice that is insulting to buyers.

The rich getting richer story is as old as time:

And on all the earth around there was now no food anywhere, for the famine had grown very severe, and Egypt and Canaan were both weak with hunger. Joseph accumulated all the money to be found in Egypt and Canaan, in exchange for the supplies being handed out, and put the money in Pharaoh’s palace. When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was exhausted, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, pleading, ‘Give us food, unless you want us to die before your eyes! For our money has come to an end.’  Joseph replied, ‘Hand over your livestock and I shall issue you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money has come to an end.’  So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses and livestock, whether sheep or cattle, and for donkeys. Thus he saw them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.  When that year was over, they came to him the next year, and said to him, ‘We cannot hide it from my lord: the truth is, our money has run out and the livestock is in my lord’s possession. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land.  If we and our land are not to perish, take us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will become Pharaoh’s serfs; only give us seed, so that we can survive and not die and the land not revert to desert!’  Thus Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, since one by one the Egyptians sold their fields, so hard pressed were they by the famine; and the whole country passed into Pharaoh’s possession,  while the people he reduced to serfdom from one end of Egypt to the other.

There is no problem with Prop F passing ... but I do think it was publicity stunt, placed on the ballet to confuse voters.  I think the less the water is cloudy, the easier it is for voters to read between the lines.

LOL That’s funny.  I love statistics peddlers who zero-in on a flutter and extrapolate it off into fantasy land and delusions of grandeur.

A 6K change in median sales house resale-price between March and April and these guys are calling the bottom.

If you look at the number of actual house re-sales, there are 279 more sales in April than March so you effectively have a larger sample than the one they are comparing against in the previous month.  If you were to randomly select 1,928 sales (out of the 2,207) from April to even out the sample size and then compare median prices, the balance could be thrown off 6K in the opposite direction and appear as a 6K decline; all depending on your luck of the draw.

In other words - the data is meaningless.  The market is way too volatile.  The median sales price could just as easily have been 6K more in the previous month, had there been a few more sales of a couple of more expensive houses.

I would say that prices are flat.  These guys who are acting all giddy about this are engaging in flagrant douche-baggery.  They should be watching unemployment numbers, interest rate manipulation by the government, declining incomes, etc and factor all that into their thoughts before going myopic on a blip in the data set.

Don’t they teach journalists to ask questions and dig deep anymore? WTF?

Winstongator,

In truth, I believe the story to be more about how the natural man will squander his wealth in the fat years and indenture himself in the lean years.

In Genesis 41, the story reads that Egypt was clearly taken care of and all other surrounding countries were upon starvation.

You also must agree that we have seen a modern day equivalent right before our eyes.  That is the beauty of great scripture… to tell a story in parable that occurs again and again without fail; and that humans will ignore all prior advice that it will happen again when it does.

Chuck Ponzi

It’s ok to put it on hold and take it off hold, but it’s against MLS rules to keep listing it as a “new listing”.  MLS has somewhat resolved this problem by showing cumulative days on market, but it would still show up on client alerts.

I remember seeing ad wording like “devastating views” duing the bubble in Malibu.  I do not think that means what the realtor thinks it means.

-Hard Numbers

P.S.  Thanks for your help last week, IR.  I found an above-water owner to rent from.  Kudos.

The way I read it, you want to have the only valuable medium of exchange (cash) during a severe economic downturn. The guy with cash ends up with everything. Cash is king.

I couldn’t find it either at first. Found that it is called Kirsten’s Chronicles (instead of Kristie).

At 900K the seller would get a great 156K profit(after 6% commission) Not bad if they put down 10% when they purchased. Invest $69,000 and have $156,000 10 years later, great deal…..226% return in 10 years.

These sellers need to be just a bit less greedy if they want us bitter renters to take over their mortgages for them.

You just have to hope that a cheese-burger doesn’t cost 50.00$ by the time you are ready to buy.

I agree about the fat vs. lean years.  The fact that we were overspending during the ‘fat’ years leaves very little for the lean years.

I think this may not be solely a parable, but a semi-historical accounting of how the Pharoahs came to control Egypt.  Jared Diamond points to agriculture’s ability to create excess food, enabling more specialized workers.  The truly rich have the ability to store excess and use that to expand their power.

The parable would have been more useful 5+ years ago, and should be repeated when people think times are good.  Bad times will happen and we should prepare for them.

Once I read “ballroom” I knew where you were going with this post, then at the end of the sentence was the affirmation.  Well done.

Are there any decent sized lots in Irvine other than TR/SC?

or else she’ll be priced out forever.

The price does seem low even for Riverside, and it didn’t appear to have been listed in the MLS before the sale.

But still it sold for only $770k in 2005, at the peak, and that level of price drop is not abnormal for Riverside-my $150k house sold for $400k at about the same time, which is even a greater discount, percentage wise.

I agree. For all we know these are the same agents that do not update status when a property goes into escrow wasting yet more buyers time.

“The more this plays out, the more I realize that most people who bought homes didn’t put anything down and don’t have anything saved up”

...and are now living rent free until they get kicked out by the bank.

Pity it isn’t “which would reduce salaries to state elected officials by the percentage deficit being run”

Actually, gold and silver are king.  If you hold government debt (ie fiat dollars), you will have your money devalued.  I can’t wait for the 18% mortgage rates to see what it does to home values!

Definitely a great price but as with all real estate you have to ask the question about location.  What will eventually end up on the two sides of this lot that are now “countryside”?  A strip mall?  Apartment complex?  Prison?

In my home buying experience I have found that an established area carries far less risk.  That’s not to say it won’t turn out well for this property but what if….

Why do we have to keep on bailing out these stupid, irresponsible peole???
Am I the only one bitter about this?
Or are we all getting used to having our own money taken from our own pockets?

You are welcome. I am glad to be of service.

It’s too bad we have the “seperation of Church and State”, because it would sure be nice if this was written in stone and mounted on the steps of Sacramento.

On the West side of the Big Island?

Bruddah, that could be your coffee plantation.

On the East side?

Well, that’s a pakalolo farm.

Either way well worth the 3MIL…  The shack either holds the tools or the guns.

Does anyone notice that in this account, God neither condemns Joseph’s behavior nor punishs him?

Or you could read it as - if you are going to horde all the cash - you’d better be in good with the ruler and his troops ...

How can you have a estate in a sea of condos halfway to Moreno Valley?

Do you get a lifetime pass on the toll road if you buy here?  Must be a real hassle having to deal with all of those pesky million dollar condos around your Estate.  Your kids have to park their Rolls Royces amongst a sea of Bimmers.  Oy Vey…

Acutally - when the Pilgrims got off the boat, they tried socialsm and nearly staved due to no one wanting to work.  Then capitalism was adopted and everyone had plenty to eat.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Wp8BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=pilgrims,+farming&source=bl&ots=3ghl1HF0aV&sig=_VN6632vq9V4Xoh98a4IolV1zOc&hl=en&ei=EiUTSv2zEZPFtgf736GfBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7

Yes, it’s an ESTATE. And it’s REAL!

Of course they would support her as they don’t want to be the ‘taxpayers’ holding onto the bag

You are not the only one.

“The result was that some shirked their work.”

Not much different from today’s environment: walking away from your mortgage

I know the neighborhood; grew up within a couple miles of there.  The area around that will probably remain undeveloped-worst case scenerio would be more houses.  Much of that area is a park or otherwise restricted from development.  It’s also fairly isolated overall (without being too distant from shopping or schools)-the hills surrounding it will always prevent a major road being built nearby, for example.

Depends on what you call a decent-sized lot…but The Ranch off Irvine Center Drive has some nice ones but its not the top choice for many folks.  Westpark II SFR are nice.

You forgot to mention the private tennis court (see image)

IT’s an ESTATE of PANIC LOL!!

Thank you very much.

Great—my new quote of the day, “flagrant douche-baggery”!    LOL!!!

Actually, I did mention it.

Man, what is it about the OC that makes people go crazy there? Personally I’d save some cash and buy further North, something like this:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Alhambra/3111-Glenridge-Ave-91801/home/6995524

Cool modern design (i.e., the real deal), decent location, and about 1/3 of the price. Plus, since it’s been on the market for awhile, you could probably bargain the seller down a bit.

Excellent suggestion.

And if the budget is late, legislators and the Governor don’t get paid.

I’ve been quite busy with my move, but wanted to give a comparison of LA/OC with a large nonbubble market, Dallas, where I am on assignment and spending at least the summer.

So far it’s a very positive impression.

Some things are pretty much as advertised:

-Lower traffic than LA, yes.  Of course, that’s true anywhere but NY, Cairo, Mexico City, or Tokyo.  Average rushhour speeds on freeways are 50+ mph.  Not quite screaming along with impunity, but pretty good.
-Parking, yes.  Not many limitations.  So far, I haven’t seen any gratuitous “No parking third mondays, full moons, except with zone 14 permit” kind of signs.
-Friendly people, yes.  As a native Southerner, I pretty much expected this.
-Attractive women, yes.  It’s kind of like being at UC Santa Barbara or USC, but on a bigger scale.  FAR better than LA, moderately better than OC.
-Much lower housing prices, especially for nice places with big lots in good neighborhoods.  However, inventory is building up and prices are dropping.  Not an LA/OC/Riverside kind of collapse, but another 15-20% off wouldn’t surprise me.  In Dallas there is no jumbo conforming and it’s hurting the high end.  Still, a $700k property here would be $2.1 million in Irvine.
-Somewhat lower rents.  Nice furnished place, short term lease, takes dogs, excellent neighborhood, 3 br 2 ba, 2000 sf, 1/2 acre lot.  $2000/mo.
-No state income taxes.  Just got my first TX paycheck, and I can personally confirm there is no state income tax.

Some things aren’t at all as advertised:
-Rednecks, very hard to find in Dallas.  There are some poor people, but not sunburned alcoholic guys with shiny cutouts of women on their mudflaps.
-Heat and humidity, missing in action.  Santa Barbara’s summer weather appears to have been kidnapped and brought here.  Very clear air, highs in the high 70’s.  This might change at a moment’s notice.

Not advertised, but apparently true:
-Fewer tattoos.
-Much much less graffiti.  I’ve found like 3 pieces of graffiti, and was able to read all of them.
-Almost no trash on the freeways.  While this isn’t much of a problem in OC, LA apparently never cleans the freeway emergency lanes.  You could do your Christmas shopping there.

Further updates as I notice things.  Feel free to ask questions.

Also posted in Forums, Real Estate Outside Orange County.

These stupid, irresponsible people are in the majority & they’re part of the voting pool.  That’s why we have to keep on bailing them out.

Maliburenter: Nice to hear about Dallas with your usual objective review. Welcome back.

Also, you might add: lower sales tax, property tax, gas tax, vehicle registration, less governmental “fees”, and a higher caliber of local politicians.
How are the government employee unions in TX?

Exactly. Those are nice houses in Irvine. It is just not worth what they are asking. Most are almost condos—tight packed, you own the land in common with the Irvine Company. Nice looking, but not worth it.

That’s barely 3 times the profit the realtor would make at 6%. Can’t have that.

Too often people ignore the lessons taught by religion simply because it is religion teaching them… but religion can also be seen as society’s way of protecting its legacy.

Unfortunately, noone sees it that way, it seems.

While I have in the past been of a similar thinking, I have serious doubts that we can ever in our life again see 18% interest rates.

We have severe overcapacity; everywhere and in everything.  Where should these rates come from?

I am sure if we have 18% rates, we will have real estate going up at 20%+ rates.

How about tornado? So far I’ve seen zero tornado in California (and I lived in CA for 29 years).

Once again, the lone Los Angeleno marvelled at the overly beige Ethan-Alenesque blandness that tried to pass itself off as an estate.

Wow…he thought. 

If *Spanish* houses were tacos, these would be Taco Bell.  No…not Baja Steak Chalupas…but bland soggy soft shell tacos sans hot sauce.

Plain, not deluxe.

On a more serious note…It’s pretty funny to think about the fact that delusional agents and owners are probably fervently checking IHB dreading the potential day when their “humble” abode is profiled.

Peek-a-boo…we see you!

50% off and I still wouldn’t consider it a bargain.

Actually religion is the easy way to control people. Beliefs can be manipulated.
Knowledge is dangerous.
The main problem is human greed. Always has been and always will be. No amount of scripture can ever change this.
Just look at the pleasure palaces every priesthood ever devised by man has built. Even they eventually succumb to the flash and trash money brings to the table.

No heat and humidity??  Just wait.  Hope you are not there in August or have lots of air conditioning at your disposal.

how do you post images on the blog??
What is the html sytex??

Good point, although I know lots of agnostics and atheists that are extremely moral people.

Er, that “Good point” was directed at Chuck Ponzi (the maximum nesting limit here makes it look otherwise).

Very cool.  Gotta love that early-60s kitschy modernism.  Don’t have to love the louvered windows, though, nor the commute to Irvine-area jobs.

Thanks, MalibuRenter.  Will miss your more regular commenting here, but your Dallas report was interesting.

IR, thanks for the humorous AC/DC lyrics—didn’t realize they were that witty.